The present invention concerns an ultra-flat box for inserting into newspapers or other general public or specialized magazines, said box containing a cast, pasty type product sample, volatile or otherwise, cosmetic or food.
In order to produce envelopes containing products to be inserted as inserts in the press, pouches formed from two sheets welded around the periphery are normally used. these sheets, comprised of a multi-layer composite materialxe2x80x94aluminum, polyethylene, polyesterxe2x80x94are not able to contain cast pasty products, but only a fine film of liquid or fluid.
Indeed, such containers must meet certain criteria in order to be accepted as an insert. In particular, they must be able to withstand a considerable pressure caused by the weight of the stacks (on pallets) in the storage areas or during transport. In general, distribution companies require said containers to withstand a load of 15000 N, applied for six seconds on the upper face. Said load must not cause any leak or bursting of the containers, so as not to risk soiling the merchandise.
There are microencapsulation coatings containing a few drops of perfume, the fragrance of which is dispersed after the coating is torn. However, microencapsulations can not contain a sufficient quantity of cast pasty products.
Also, there are deposits of very thin layers in serigraphy of a cosmetic product such as makeup foundation or lipstick, covered with a protective film. Once again, this method does not allow the use of a sufficient quantity of a cast pasty product or a product having a high volatility.
Also known, for example in the patent JP-A-91/73137, is the use of a perforated and embossed plastic, possibly furnished with a spacer, enclosed by two films of flexible plastic. Such methods have a high financial cost, and the plurality of glued or welded surfaces multiplies the risks of leaks or bursting.
The invention seeks to remedy the disadvantages of the state of the art, and in particular, to produce an ultra-flat box for press insert, making it possible to withstand a mechanical pressure of at least 15000 N and having and having a thickness of less than about 2 mm, while enabling a cast pasty product to be received in sufficient quantity to make it possible to evaluate the texture or to use it as a test, with a reasonable financial cost.
To accomplish this, the invention proposes combining a box made of thermoplastic material having a peripheral edge on which a sealing film is welded.
More specifically, a purpose of the invention is an ultra-flat box for insert comprising a housing suitable for receiving a cast pasty product with an overall height of the box of about 2 mm, in which the housing is limited by a bottom and an internal lateral flank with a peripheral edge that is raised relative to the bottom which has an upper face and a support face that are planar and parallel; the edge has an upper surface that is appreciably parallel to the bottom in order to receive by welding an seal formed form a thin film that covers the housing of the box and is welded to the upper face of the edge, and in which the relative radial dimensions of the edge of the box made of thermoplastic material are proportioned so as to withstand a mechanical pressure equal to at least approximately 15000 N distributed on its surface
In addition to its decorative appearance, the box according to the present invention has a rigidity that makes it possible to package fragile products, such as pastes or emulsions, and it allows the visibility of an advertising page to be increased when it is inserted in a magazine. In fact, the rigidity of the box produces a xe2x80x9cbookmark xe2x80x9d effect that encourages the reader to open the magazine directly to the location of the advertising insert. Conventional pouches, comprised of flexible envelopes, are much less effective for that purpose.
According to special forms of embodiment:
the thermoplastic material is injected in order to obtain the desired shape by molding; said material can be PP (polypropylene), PE (polyethylene), PET (polyethylene terephatalate) or ABS (acrylo-butadiene-styrene);
the seal is made of a multilayer composite material, comprising at least a layer of thermoplastic material, such as PE or PP for example, in order to make the welding possible, and a xe2x80x9cbarrier xe2x80x9d layer that can be composed of aluminum, in order to block the permeability of the thermoplastic material;
in transverse cross section, the edge has a bridge shape with a collar resting on a connecting pillar integral with the bottom of the box, and an external pillar forming an edge, said edge having an upper face that is raised relative to the upper weld face of the collar, in such a way that after welding, the upper face of the edge and face of the seal are flush;
the upper weld face of the seal is provided with circular cords to facilitate this welding, and transverse orifices are distributed along the edge in order to allow a suction to hold the seal prior to its being welded;
the welding of the seal can be achieved thermally, by ultrasound or by induction, the PE or PP layer being fused to glue the thermoplastic material of the box;
the bottom of the box has a thickness of between 0.3 and 1 mm, and the internal flank can be sloped at an angle of about 10 degrees flaring toward the bottom in order to keep the pasty product in place in the event its adherence to the plastic is not enough to hold it in place;
the overall height of the edge is between about 1.5 and 2 mm;
the bottom of the box can also appear in relief, for example capillary striations, intended to force the product to spread over the whole surface of the bottom of the box during casting;
it is possible to increase the wettability of the plastic material by adding an additive (wetting agent) to the material, by a surface treatment intended to change the surface tension (surface-active agent) or an electrical treatment (corona, plasma), or a surface oxidation by flaming, for example; these operations, intended to improve the filling, have an effect on the quality of the produce and also on the production cost, but they make it possible to accelerate the casting operation on the machine, while ensure a good leveling of the pasty product even in the case of a very thin layer of paste;
a decorative effect can be obtained on the surface of the product because, due to the thinness of the pasty product, an embossment on the bottom, optionally informative such as a logo or a text, is transferred to the surface of the product either by transparency if the pasty product is not totally opaque, or by xe2x80x9cshading xe2x80x9d of the surface if the product is totally opaque.
The box can contain any type of volatile or non-volatile products, such as cosmetics, lipsticks or makeup foundation for example, or food products in any pasty and cast form.
The present invention also has the advantage of making possible to packing of fragile products, such as pastes or emulsions, because of the obtained rigidity. It also promotes direct access to the page corresponding to the location of the box in the magazine, because its rigidity has a xe2x80x9cbookmark xe2x80x9d effect that is better than what is produced by the conventional pouches comprised of flexible envelopes.
Other characteristics and advantages of the invention will appear from the following description, relative to one form of embodiment, with reference to the appended figures which represent, respectively:
FIG. 1, a top view of one example of cylindrical shaped box according to the invention;
FIG. 2, a partial cross sectional view of the box along plane 2-2 of FIG. 1, the seal having been removed;
FIG. 3, a bottom view in perspective of a box provided with thin radial ribs;
FIGS. 4a to 4d are top view of various shapes of boxes according to the invention;
FIGS. 5 and 6 are top views of boxes with compartmentalized housings;
FIG. 7 is a bottom view of a box having striations for the distribution of the product; and
FIG. 8 is a cross sectional view of a box having a bottom capable of producing a decorative effect on the surface of the housed product.